Apple has developed 15 familiar gestures for your fingers to use on a Multi-Touch trackpad to perform a function. At least a few of them are undoubtedly second nature to you, but you may not have had the opportunity to learn others that could really help you over time.
If you can remember the 10 gestures below, you’ll be taking steps to use your trackpad more efficiently while reducing strain on your hands. While it takes a moment to remember everyone, there’s another benefit besides the time saved by using gestures. It also aims to reduce the number of times an annoying and task-disrupting gesture is accidentally used on the trackpad.
- Time to complete: 10 mins
Tools needed: MacBook trackpad or Magic Trackpad
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Tap to click
Apple
Tapping with one finger to click is a logical starting point for teaching someone how to use a trackpad. This primary gesture allows the user to click on linked text and photos on websites and on a selected portion of a document in a word processor. You literally go nowhere without them. When you double-tap, you perform what is probably the most common gesture: opening a file, folder, or app.
Secondary click (right click)
Apple
With the two crucial ones already won, these next few gestures will only add to your arsenal. Instead of pressing Ctrl and tapping with one finger to right-click, you can click or tap with two fingers to achieve the same result. The secondary click can reduce stress on your purlicue, the area of ​​the hand between the thumb and forefinger.
Scroll
Apple
The next key gesture that all trackpad users know and use as often as breathing is when two fingers (usually the index and middle fingers) slide up or down to scroll websites and documents. The slider, typically found on the right edge of a website, word processor page, or Finder window, is still handy when there are a lot of pages you want to quickly skip past, but this gesture is more useful for the finer points.
Three finger drag
Apple
Unlike the other gestures, you have to go to Accessibility in System Preferences to enable three-finger dragging. For a more ergonomic movement than what you might be used to with your thumb and forefinger, you can use three fingers followed by a tap or click to drag and drop items onto your screen.
Zoom in or out
Apple
Two fingers are required to either pinch text or an image to zoom in or stretch to zoom out. Just be careful not to accidentally zoom out so far that you see all your tabs divided into small, separate windows — depending on your tabbing habits, this could be confusing.
Intelligent zoom
Apple
Another two-finger gesture that can help you see better is Smart Zoom. Tap with two digits to quickly zoom in and out on a page or image. This differs from the zoom in or out gesture above as there is only one zoom level available.
Turn
Apple
Speaking of pictures, you can also slide two fingers around each other to rotate photos. This is useful in situations where the image would be more interesting if presented in a different orientation. It may take a little practice to perform rotations in fine increments.
mission control
Apple
When you’re ready to get an overview of everything you’ve opened and running, you can access Mission Control by swiping up with four fingers.
launch pad
Apple
Browse your app collection visually with Launchpad, accessed by pinching your thumb and three fingers together. This is especially handy if you want to clear out some to make room for new ones.
show desktop
Apple
Spread your thumb and three fingers apart to view the desktop, which can easily become cluttered and distracting if you don’t glance at it every once in a while. This and the opposite Launchpad gesture can help you maintain your Mac’s user interface.